The Dallas Mavericks entered Christmas having won 13 of their last 16 games, looking like top-tier contenders in the West. They were favorites to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves on Christmas but wound up falling to a 99-105 loss where Luka Doncic left the game in the second quarter after picking up a severe calf strain.
Doncic is now expected to miss an extended period, with the Mavericks waiting for an MRI to confirm the severity of the injury. He put up 14 points (5-9 FG) and five rebounds in 16 minutes before leaving the game.
“I’m told Luka Doncic left on crutches today in Dallas and that he will undergo an MRI on Thursday. The Mavericks are bracing for him to miss an extended period of time. This is the same calf he had a contusion in October, he’s had multiple strains on that same calf in recent years. They’re going to be careful with it, and if he misses 10 more games this season, he’ll be ineligible for MVP and All-NBA.”
Reporting for ABC NBA Countdown on Mavericks star Luka Doncic exiting arena with crutches, with an MRI scheduled Thursday to determine severity of his calf strain: pic.twitter.com/yetYyzotRi
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 26, 2024
This development can ruin the Mavericks’ season. They are currently 19-11 as the fourth seed in the West. They were looking destined to climb to No. 2 in the West before the end of the season, but tonight’s loss and the Luka injury will ensure that the Mavericks struggle to continue climbing the standings.
They’ll prioritize maintaining their position as a top-four team in Luka’s absence, which will be challenging considering the Mavericks have a challenging set of opponents in January 2025.
Doncic is averaging 28.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 7.8 assists this season, overcoming a slow start and recently dominating opponents again. He was finding his way back up the MVP ladder, but this likely ends his campaign to win the award and his six-year streak of All-NBA First Team appearances.
Luka can’t miss more than 10 games to remain eligible for MVP after an assortment of injuries in the first two months of the season. While we have seen players play through minor calf strains in the past, we’ve also seen the injury end team seasons like the Milwaukee Bucks after Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s calf injury in the 2024 Playoffs.
Doncic and the Mavs should be cautious and give up personal accolades to ensure he’s healthy when it comes to the most important part of the season. Even if Doncic is sidelined for the entirety of January, it will be a necessary evil to ensure the star guard is healthy enough to return and dominate in the final stretch of the season.
The Mavericks will expect Kyrie Irving to take the majority of the offensive load in Doncic’s absence, as he did tonight in a 39-point performance against the Timberwolves. Unfortunately, it ended as a loss, so the Mavericks need to find greater consistency without Doncic and they could easily remain in the top-four of the West.
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